TexMessage: Paul Ryan and Ted Cruz disagree on shutting the government down over Obamacare

Good morning, TexMessagers! Should Republicans force a “government shutdown” to defund Obamacare?

TEXclusive

Some lawmakers have suggested that a “government shutdown” is in order to defund Obamacare, but Rep. Paul Ryan doubts the effectiveness of this method.

In an interview with Newsmax TV, Cruz said that the term “shutdown” is a misnomer.

“What it is in fact is a partial, temporary shutdown because Social Security checks continue to flow, the military continues to be paid, the national debt continues to be serviced. If there’s no Continuing Resolution in effect, then what happens is non-essential government functions are temporarily suspended. Now that’s inconvenient, but we actually see this every single week on the weekends,” said Cruz.

Last week on the Senate floor, Cruz admitted that some may see his stance on the issue as a reason to blame Republicans for a government shut down. The Texas senator clarified his position and said, “I believe the House of Representatives should pass a continuing resolution, should fund the entirety of the Federal government except for Obamacare, and should explicitly prohibit further funding of Obamacare.”

Some Republicans hope to block any bill that would allocate finances for the implementation of Obamacare. Congress has until September 30 to pass a spending resolution, but if they fail to act, it could lead to a government shutdown.

Cruz said that the American people will have to decide if lawmakers are willing to shut down the American government in order to “force Obamacare down the throats of the American people.”

He admitted that there would not be enough votes today and that the Senate would not be able to hold 41 senators to defund Obamacare, but maintains hope that millions of Americans will stand up and say that this health care program isn’t working.

Cruz said that legislators should be held accountable by their constituents and that Americans know this bill is not working.

In an interview with Face the Nation, Rep. Paul Ryan — the House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee — stated that the issue is not whether or not Republicans want to get rid of Obamacare, because all Republicans hope to repeal and replace the program.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan says government shutdown to defund Obamacare is not the answer. Photo by Associated Press.

Ryan believes the “government shutdown” that has been mentioned several times would not be smart or effective. Turning the lights off in Congress would only affect government agency budgets, according to Ryan.

“And with the government shutdown, so to speak, we’re talking about discretionary spending, just government agency budgets, but it doesn’t affect entitlements. Obamacare is an entitlement like Medicare and Social Security is, and so the entitlement carries on even under a government shutdown scenario. So it’s just not that simple and easy. You know, rather than sort of swinging for the fences and trying to take this entire law out with discretionary spending, I think there are more effective ways of achieving that goal. We think that we can do better by delaying this law. We’ve already had votes to delay other parts of it. Democrats have supported us in that. And so I think there’s going to be a better strategy to actually achieve our goal of ultimately delaying it, ultimately replacing Obamacare,” said Ryan.

“I’m far from Conservative, but even I know that’s a horrible idea. SJL has one agenda in mind and it’s not in the best interest of the country as a whole. I hope the POTUS does not consider her!”

Today:

★ No hearings are being held today.

Tomorrow and beyond:

★ September 9 The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has a hearing to discuss whether or not VA is doing all it can to stop veterans from dying.

★ September 11 The Senate Appropriations Committee has a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2014 for the Federal Communications Commission.

Today in Texas History:

On this date in 2005, Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan of Inglewood, California relocated to Crawford, Texas, right outside of President George W. Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch to protest American involvement in Iraq. More>>>